Prayer to St Monica
May they enjoy good health of mind and body, see beauty and worth in all created things, and serve the Lord with firm faith, joyful hope and enduring love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The life of Saint Monica
"The child of those tears shall never perish."
"In her dream she saw herself standing on a sort of wooden rule, and saw a bright youth approaching her, joyous and smiling at her, while she was grieving and bowed down with sorrow. But when he inquired of her the cause of her sorrow and daily weeping (not to learn from her, but to teach her, as is customary in visions), and when she answered that it was my soul's doom she was lamenting, he bade her rest content and told her to look and see that where she was there I was also. And when she looked she saw me standing near her on the same rule." (Confessions, Book III, 9.14).
Monica did not live long after Augustine's baptism. They had already decided to return to Africa. After a time in Ostia, near Rome, while waiting for passage to Africa, Augustine tells of the moving spiritual experience they shared as they sat at the window overlooking the garden. It was here that Monica expressed the profound peace she enjoyed and her conviction that her life's task had been completed. Very shortly afterward, she fell ill with a fever. She died two days later and was buried at Ostia. Friends told Augustine that she would not grieve over dying and being buried in a foreign land, and she had added, with a touch of humour, that she was sure God would remember where she was buried and raise her up. She had previously told Augustine and his brother Navigius: "Lay this body anywhere, and take no trouble over it. One thing only do I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be." Augustine was so deeply moved by his mother's death that he was inspired to write his Confessions, "So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me - more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone" (Confessions, Book IX, 13.37)
Opening prayer: Crucified Jesus, kneeling at your feet, we offer to you the tears of the one who, with deep and compassionate love, accompanied You on Your sorrowful way of the Cross. Oh good Saviour, grant that we take to heart the teachings given us by the tears of Your Most Holy Mother, so that we may accomplish Your divine will on earth and may be made worthy to honour and glorify You in Heaven throughout all eternity.
O Heavenly Father, we thank You for our mothers to whom You have entrusted the care of every precious human life from its very beginning in the womb.
You have given to woman the capacity of participating with You in the creation of new life. Grant that every woman may come to understand the full meaning of that blessing, which gives her an unlimited capacity for selfless love for every child she may be privileged to bear, and for all Your children.
Dearest Saint Monica, patron of Christian parents, we entrust to your protection, the children whose names you can read in our hearts. Pray for them, that they may be granted strength to combat weakness, victory over temptation, guidance to resolve their doubts, and success in all their undertakings.
May they enjoy good health of mind and body, see beauty and worth in all created things, and serve the Lord with firm faith, joyful hope and enduring love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The life of Saint Monica
"The child of those tears shall never perish."
Saint Monica
Benozzo Gozzoli (fresco - 1464-65)
Apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano
Benozzo Gozzoli (fresco - 1464-65)
Apsidal chapel, Sant'Agostino, San Gimignano
Monica, a saint especially revered by mothers because of her tireless prayers for the conversion of her wayward son, Augustine, was born of Christian parents in Tagaste, North Africa in 333, and died in Ostia, near Rome, in 387. She was married young to a government official, Patricius, who was not a Christian, and had a bad temper, though she bore her burdens patiently, and their life together was relatively peaceful. They had three children; Augustine, Navigius, and a daughter, Perpetua.
Augustine, the eldest son, though brilliant, was, according to his own account, a lazy and dissolute youth whose bad behaviour caused his mother much grief especially so after he went away to school at Madaura and to Carthage. Although her husband Patricius became a Christian not long before he died, Augustine persisted in his pursuit of pleasure, and, as a nineteen-year-old student, joined the heretical Manichaean sect. When he began to spout heresies, Monica became alarmed, and intensified her prayers to bring him to Christ. In his writings ‘the Confessions’, Augustine recounts Monica's dream which consoled and encouraged her:
"In her dream she saw herself standing on a sort of wooden rule, and saw a bright youth approaching her, joyous and smiling at her, while she was grieving and bowed down with sorrow. But when he inquired of her the cause of her sorrow and daily weeping (not to learn from her, but to teach her, as is customary in visions), and when she answered that it was my soul's doom she was lamenting, he bade her rest content and told her to look and see that where she was there I was also. And when she looked she saw me standing near her on the same rule." (Confessions, Book III, 9.14).
During this anguished period of prayer for her son, Monica consulted a bishop who had himself been a Manichaean before he became a Christian. He declined to intervene with Augustine, whom, the bishop correctly observed, was not open to hearing the truth. She persisted tearfully, but he refused to intervene. Nevertheless, the bishop consoled Monica that "the child of those tears shall never perish", which she took as a sign from God. Though he continued in his heresies for nine years, Monica followed Augustine to Rome and then to Milan in an effort to rescue her son from his errors. In Milan she met Ambrose, who helped lead Augustine into the true faith.
Monica did not live long after Augustine's baptism. They had already decided to return to Africa. After a time in Ostia, near Rome, while waiting for passage to Africa, Augustine tells of the moving spiritual experience they shared as they sat at the window overlooking the garden. It was here that Monica expressed the profound peace she enjoyed and her conviction that her life's task had been completed. Very shortly afterward, she fell ill with a fever. She died two days later and was buried at Ostia. Friends told Augustine that she would not grieve over dying and being buried in a foreign land, and she had added, with a touch of humour, that she was sure God would remember where she was buried and raise her up. She had previously told Augustine and his brother Navigius: "Lay this body anywhere, and take no trouble over it. One thing only do I ask of you, that you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be." Augustine was so deeply moved by his mother's death that he was inspired to write his Confessions, "So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me - more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone" (Confessions, Book IX, 13.37)
Centuries later, Monica's body was reburied in Rome, and eventually her relics were interred in a chapel left of the high altar of the Church of St. Augustine in Rome.
Our Lady of tears, pray for us
St Monica, pray for us
St Augustine, pray for us
CHAPLET OF OUR LADY OF TEARS
While meditating on the seven sorrows of Our Lady
- The Prophecy of Simeon at the Presentation in the Temple
- The Flight into Egypt
- The Loss of Jesus in the Temple
- Mary Encounters Jesus on the Way of the Cross
- Jesus Dies on the Cross
- Jesus Is Taken Down From the Cross
- Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
Opening prayer: Crucified Jesus, kneeling at your feet, we offer to you the tears of the one who, with deep and compassionate love, accompanied You on Your sorrowful way of the Cross. Oh good Saviour, grant that we take to heart the teachings given us by the tears of Your Most Holy Mother, so that we may accomplish Your divine will on earth and may be made worthy to honour and glorify You in Heaven throughout all eternity.
Pray Once: Oh Jesus, behold the tears of the one who loved You most on earth, and who loves You most ardently in Heaven.
Pray Seven Times: Oh Jesus, hear our prayers, for the sake of the tears of Your Most Holy Mother.
You have completed one set, to complete the chaplet pray the above six more times while meditating on each sorrow of Our Lady.
Then, pray three times:
Oh Jesus, behold the tears of the ones who loved You most on earth, and who loves You most ardently in Heaven.
Closing prayer:
Oh Mary, Mother of Love, Mother of Sorrows and Mother of Mercy, we beg you to unite your petition with ours so that your Divine Son, Jesus, to Whom we now turn in the name of Your Motherly Tears, answers our prayers and with the graces we ask for, grant us the kingdom of eternal life. Amen.
Prayer to St Monica for all mothers
You have given to woman the capacity of participating with You in the creation of new life. Grant that every woman may come to understand the full meaning of that blessing, which gives her an unlimited capacity for selfless love for every child she may be privileged to bear, and for all Your children.
Watch over every mother who is with child, strengthen her faith in Your fatherly care and love for her and for her unborn baby. Give her courage in times of fear or pain, understanding in times of uncertainty and doubt, and hope in times of trouble. Grant her joy in the birth of her child.
To mothers You have given the great privilege and responsibility of being a child's first teacher and spiritual guide. Grant that all mothers may worthily foster the faith of their children, following the example of Mary, Elizabeth, Monica and other holy women who follow Christ. Help mothers to grow daily in knowledge and understanding of Your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and grant them the wisdom to impart this knowledge faithfully to their children, and to all who depend upon them. St Monica intercede for all mothers that they may learn to draw their children to God.
Assist all "spiritual mothers", those who, though they may have no children of their own, nevertheless selflessly care for the children of others -- of every age and state in life. Grant that they may know the joy of fulfilling this motherly calling of women, whether in teaching, nursing, religious life, or in other work which recognizes and fosters the true dignity of every human being created in Your image and likeness.
We beseech You to send Your Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to all mothers who sorrow for children that have died, are ill or estranged from their families, or who are in trouble or danger of any kind. Help grieving mothers to rely on Your tender mercy and fatherly love for all your children.
We ask your blessing on all those to whom You have entrusted motherhood. May Your Holy Spirit constantly inspire and strengthen them. May they ever follow the example of Mary, mother of Our Lord, and imitate her fidelity, her humility, and her self-giving love. May all mothers receive Your Grace abundantly in this earthly life, and may they look forward to eternal joy in Your presence in the life to come.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. AMEN.
St Monica, pray for us.
Our Lady of Tears, pray for us.
St Monica, pray for us.
Our Lady of Tears, pray for us.